Medicaid bill for counties cut in half but objections remain

The amount of money the state says counties owe for unpaid Medicaid bills has been cut nearly in half.

New calculations from the Agency for Health Care Administration say Florida's 67 counties now owe $168 million to help cover Medicaid costs. That's down from $325.5 million.

Counties will be asked to settle their debts over five years starting in October. They could also chose to file an appeal in administrative court.

The news is better for some counties than others. As part of the revised estimates, 10 counties — including Palm Beach — went from owing money to being owed money.

Instead of having to pay the state $9.4 million as initially estimated, Palm Beach now has a credit of $322,972. Miami-Dade County's share of the costs dropped from $63.9 million to $49.9 million, and Broward County now owes $18.6 million, down from an initial $34.7 million.

"It was hard work going county-by-county throughout the whole state, but Governor Scott is happy with the efforts ACHA made to ensure we can continue moving Florida in the right direction," spokesman Lane Wright said via email.